Whatever you want to get which seems like a reasonable price, the i3-2100 would easily do what you need. So would the Phenom X2's or the FX-4100.
It really comes down to what you want to spend, AMD or otherwise, it'll do the job.

960T @ Microecenter for $109 would be the best choice for what he plans on using it for. If he decides he wants more you can try to unlock it to a x6 Thuban and add a GPU. Also with it being $20 cheaper than a 970 I would put the extra money in a better board like the MSI 880G which is one step better I believe or even better the ASUS 870 AM3+ bundle for $169 is best. By getting an AM3+ board gives a bit of future proofing with an upgrade path into AM3+ CPU's later.Edited by cmac68 - 1/26/12 at 9:23am